Nowadays,\nhuman beings seem to have forgotten about the trust that Allah SWT has given in\nhelping His created beings, not only fellow humans, but also other creatures\nsuch as animals, plants and so on. This can be seen when stray animals such as\ncats and dogs are completely ignored by humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of late in the social media, as well\nas those featured in the press, there have been cases of abuse and cruelty perpetrated\nby what can only be mindless individuals who have utterly lost their\nconsideration and humanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, rampant illegal hunting activities also contribute to the\noccurrence of persecution of hunted animals. For instance, the use of noose or\nsnares to catch animals may cause injury. Animals injured by snares will have\nlimited capability to hunt. This is deemed as a form of abuse towards those\nanimals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The animal\u2019s limited capabilities to hunt entail difficulties for the\nanimals and reduce their ability to chase and hunt prey for food, for\nthemselves and their offspring. As a consequence, injuries from snares set up\nby humans will cause the animals to starve to death. Whereas Islam strictly\nforbids human beings from torturing other creatures because they also share the\nsame rights as humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, such situations clearly illustrate that compassion towards\nanimals is eroding among some of us today. In the Holy Quran and the Sunnah,\nAllah has explicitly stated the position of animals in Islam. Although animals\nare not given an equal position with humans in terms of mind, their position as\nslaves to Allah SWT is the same as humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Surah al-An\u2019am<\/em>, verse 38,\nAllah states which translates to a certain extent as follows: \u201cAnd there is no creature on (or within) the\nearth or bird that flies with its wings except (that they are) communities like\nyou. We have not neglected in the register a thing. Then unto their Lord they\nwill be gathered.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Animals are created by Allah SWT to complete human life. In living,\nanimals too have feelings. The only difference between humans and animals is\nthat the latter do not have the mind like humans who are created to be the\ncaliphs of Allah SWT on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the relationship between humans and animals, Islam strongly calls on\nhumans to treat animals well. Moreover, every good deed comes with great\nrewards as promised by Allah SWT. It has been mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad\n(peace be upon him): \u201cThey (Apostle\u2019s\ncompanions) said, Messenger of Allah, do we have a reward for taking care of\nbeasts? He said, there is a reward for service to every living creature.\u201d<\/em>\n(Hadith narrated by Imam Malik, Muwatta<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many like to own pets such as cats, rabbits, and squirrels. Caring for\nanimals is one of the practices encouraged in Islam, but the owners must ensure\nthat the welfare and rights that are given to their pets are well taken care\nof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The rights of pets should be given adequately so that the animals are\nalways in good condition and can continue to survive. Therefore, if the pet is\nconfined and the owner is not able to protect the rights of the animals such as\neating and drinking, then they should be released at certain times so that they\ncan find their own food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari,the companions once asked Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): \u201cO Messenger, will we be rewarded if we do good to animals?\u201d He\nreplied: \u201cDoing good to every creature is rewarded.\u201d <\/em>Such is the great\nreward given by Allah SWT to people who do good to animals even though they are\nnot pets or animals that are considered unclean in society such as dogs and\nother wilds animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Islam is highly concerned about manners and ethics in caring for the\nwelfare of animals. Among the manners and ethics outlined by Islam are as\nfollows: i) feeding and giving water when animals are hungry and thirsty; ii) loving\nand petting animals appropriately, iii) Being compassionate to animals when\nslaughtering or killing it; and iv) never torturing an animal in any way by abusing\nit, making it hungry, beating it, burdening it with something it cannot afford\nto carry, or setting it on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The four manners and ethics outlined by Islam must always be maintained by\nevery Muslim towards animals as a form of obedience to Allah SWT and the\nMessenger, coinciding with\nIslamic law that brings blessings to the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides the manners and ethics, Islam also outlines concepts are\nimportant in ensuring the welfare of animals, namely justice and kindness. For\njustice, many Quranic verses call on human beings to be fair, and to ensure\nthat justice is implemented in every matter of human life. When human beings interact\nwith other beings in the universe, then surely the question of justice will\narise. The Quran has clearly and decisively determined fair treatment and also\nexplained the attributes of justice to human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among them, as quoted in Surah\nal-Hadid<\/em>, verse 25 which translates to the following extent: \u201cWe have already sent Our Messengers with\nclear evidences and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance that the\npeople may maintain (their affairs) in justice\u2026<\/em>\u201dIndeed, the Quranic verse gives an interpretation of the concept\nof justice that needs to be heeded. Two meanings are included within the verse:\ni) justice is a broad concept and covers all aspects of human life; and ii)\njustice also refers to balance, tolerance and harmony; in terms of law, justice\nis the granting of rights to those who are entitled to receive it. The verse\nalso describes a balanced and true way of life referring to \u201cobedience to\njustice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the continuation of the concept of justice that leads to the\nexistence of justice for animals by enabling the construction of balance and\nharmony through organised and wise management. This is the concept that we want\nto use in ensuring the welfare of animals is taken care of as outlined by\nIslam. In other words, taking advantage of the animals that Allah SWT has\nbestowed on human beings, and at the same time the benefits are managed at a\nrate that allows the survival of the animals can be continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, justice will be felt by all parties, because creating justice\nrequires balance. Thus, with balance, it will lead to the maintenance of\njustice in the interaction of human life and the animal itself. Meanwhile, the\nconcept of kindness refers to good behaviour, honesty, sympathy, cooperation,\nhumane and sincere approach, concern for the rights of individuals and other\nbeings, giving something more than it should or being satisfied with something\neven if its value is less than it is supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, the concept of kindness is more than the concept of justice.\nIf justice is seen as the basis of harmony, then kindness is the adornment that\nmakes it complete and perfect. Conversely, if justice can save society from unhealthy\nsymptoms and evil, then kindness makes human life more friendly and pure, especially\nin interacting with other beings including animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nowadays, human beings seem to have forgotten about the trust that Allah SWT has given in helping His created beings, not only fellow humans, but also other creatures such as animals, plants and so on. This can be seen when stray animals such as cats and dogs are completely ignored by humans. Of late…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}